Major Beef Recall

A Kansas meatpacker has recalled 50,100 pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said.

The USDA said late on Wednesday that routine monitoring had confirmed the presence of E.coli O157:H7 in the meat produced by the National Beef Packing Co of Liberal, Kansas. It said there had been no reports of illness.

The potentially deadly bacterium can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, the elderly and people with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to food borne illness, the USDA said.

The products were produced on July 18 and shipped in 40-pound to 60-pound cases to retailers, wholesalers, and food service distributors nationwide.

The recalled meat carries the number “EST. 208A” inside the USDA mark of inspection, the department said. The news had a negligible impact on Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures early Thursday.

“It’s nothing. It’s so small compared to what we produce and nobody was sickened,” said K&S Financials analyst Jack Salzsieder. “Packers are careful about what they do. Even if there was the slightest hint of a problem, they’d recall it,” he said.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said neither it nor the company had received any reports of illness associated with the products. People concerned about an illness should contact a doctor. USDA data for the week ending July 27 showed the industry produced 508.4 million lbs of beef and 14.5 billion lbs year to date.